Aircraft seating configurations may provide for a seatback capable of breaking over during a dynamic event. For example, a passenger seat may broadly comprise a bottom chassis (upon which the passenger sits) and a seatback supporting the passenger's upper body, the rear of which seatback may face a second passenger sitting directly behind the passenger occupying the seat. The seatback may comprise, for example, a tray table assembly, tablet holder, literature pocket, display screen and console, or any combination of these components. In the event of a crash, rapid deceleration, emergency landing, or other similar impact event, the second passenger's head may be driven forward into the seatback, which may then pivot, or break over, to a full breakover position at a predetermined angle to the bottom chassis. Seatback breakover may thus mitigate head and/or neck injuries to the second passenger due to a head impact with the seatback.
However, if the seatback is allowed to breakover freely from the upright position to the full breakover position without any regulation of breakover speed, the resulting disparity in velocity between the seatback and the head of the second passenger may increase, rather than decrease, head injury and neck injury criteria (HIC, N13) and lead to preventable egress damage which may impede passenger egress from the aircraft.